Man who fled overseas after stock investment fraud sentenced to 8 years on appeal
Published: 20 Oct. 2025, 09:38
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[KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]
A man in his 50s who fled overseas after receiving billions of won through fraud was sentenced to eight years in prison in an appeal ruling.
The Seoul High Court recently sentenced Kwon, aged 51, to eight years for fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, according to reports on Sunday.
Kwon was originally given six years in the first trial, but the prison term was extended in the second trial after an additional fraud case was combined with the original charges.
“The defendant fled overseas with his family while under investigation and remained in hiding for more than eight years, obstructing the investigation and the victims’ recovery of their losses,” the court said. “While on the run, he lived a stable life, whereas the victims suffered severe financial hardship as they were never compensated.”
The court added that Kwon “showed no sign of remorse and instead tried to shift the blame onto the victims without making any effort to compensate them.”
Kwon was indicted in 2013 for deceiving victims by promising high returns through stock investments and collecting more than 4.2 billion won ($3 million) in investment funds. He fled to Canada in September 2015 and continued to reside there even after being ordered to leave the country when his six-month visa expired.
After a warrant for Kwon’s arrest was issued in September 2016, prosecutors worked with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to locate him. He was eventually apprehended by CBSA at Vancouver International Airport in June last year and extradited to Korea.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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